NO. 50.— 1899.] SAMAN DEVALE MURAL STONE. 



105 



se componha este obrigac^o com melhor possa ser, avizando me de 

 tudo para o ter entendido.— Escritta em Lisboa a dessate* de Mar<jo 

 de 653. — Rey. — O Conde de Odemira. 



Translation. 



Count, nephew, friend, — I the King send you all greetings as to 

 him whom I greatly love. Joana de Mendonca being at this court, 

 represented to me that to Simao Pinhao, her uncle, were granted for 

 the services that he did in that state two villages in Ceillao called 

 Cotapitef and Panaique| for three lives, of which she was the last, 

 and as such it was adjudged by a sentence of habilitation that she 

 could send and take possession of the said villages, which she was 

 prevented from doing in the year 1620 on account of the village of 

 Ootapite's being occupied in the service of the garrison of Sofragao.§ 

 I charge you that, having seen what this village is worth, and what 

 justice there is for giving her satisfaction of the gift of it, you order 

 this matter to be settled as best may be, advising me of all in order 

 that I may know it. — Written in Lisbon, the 17th [?] of March, 1653. — 

 The King. — Conde de Odemira. 



In the first of the above letters we have a glimpse of our 



hero in a new character, — that of the " pious donor." What 



village it was that he "gave as alms" to the convent of Saint 



Antony in Colombo does not appear ; but it was probably 



not far from Colombo. || 



* Sic. for " dezasete." apparently. — D. W. F. 



f Kuttapitiya in Nawadun Korale, Province of Sabaragamuwa. — D. W. F. 



% Opanake in Meda Korale, Province of Sabaragamuwa. Ribeiro (book 

 II., chapter X.) states that in 1641 the disawa of Sabaragamuwa and two 

 companies of soldiers were sent to this place by the field Captain -Major 

 to meet the Prince of Uva, when he was coming over to the Portuguese. 

 Ribeiro spells the name in the same way as above ; the initial letter was 

 dropped through being confounded with the Portuguese definite article o. 

 — D. W. F. 



§ This must refer to the expedition against " Madune " undertaken by 

 Constantino de Sa during his first governorship, and described by his son 

 in his Rebelion de Ceylan. chapters V., VI. (See C. A. S. Journal, XI.. 

 pp. 500-505, 508-511). — D. W. F. 



|| In Doc. Rem., tome I., pp. 381-5, are some documents relative to a 

 petition from Helena de Goes respecting a grant made in 1596 by D. 

 Jeronymo de Azevedo to her husband, Constantino Castanho, of the palm 

 gardens of Raju with their lands, the former extending from " Gurabebely' r 

 (G-urubevila^) to " Canampely " (Kanampella), and the latter comprising 

 S£ Capety, Bolata, Carrite, and Urgao Corla " (Kahatapitiya, Bollatawa, 

 Koratota, and Hewagam korale, or Udugaha pattuwa). These lands and 

 gardens, one would suppose, would be claimed by Simao Pinhao as husband 

 of the "heiress of Raju." — D. W. F. 



